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What is Education? 

ANSWERED 

by a Pilgrim after a long journey among 
civilized and uncivilized men 

OR 

THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY OF 

i INDIVIDUAL THOUGHT. 

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At Booksellers and News Companies. 
PRICE, FIFTEEN CENTS. 



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GCT 

Entered according to Act of Congress, in year 1895, by JACOBBTCOAT^S, in 
the office of the librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



THE LOVE OF THE LORD, IS THE 
BEGINNING OF WISDOM. 




Dedicated 
To the Christian Endeavor of the World, 



BY 

JACOB B. COATES, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



i 

,C-i 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? . 

OR 

The Absolute Necessity of Individual Thought. 



Having been requested to answer the question : 
" What is education," I promise to do so. 

The next time I promise children to answer 
their questions, I will first consider the responsi- 
bility attached to such an undertaking. 

Apparently an easy question to answer at first 
sight, but when taken in conjunction with the 
teachings of Jesus, " He that deceiveth the inno- 
cent (meaning their intellects) it Avould be better 
for him that a millstone was hanged about his 
neck, and he was drowned in the depth of the 
sea," it then becomes a serious question to answer — 
showing distinctly that man is responsible for 
every intellect he leads astray from Divine truth. 

Copyright, 1895. 



4 WHAT IS EDUCATION? 

After due thought and consideration — wishing 
to keep to the truth as near as God has given me to 
see the truth — my reply to the question : u What 
is Education V is, Children, it's Hash. 

Here the pastor and teachers may have fainted. 

I presume you all know what hash is like. 
Take a spoonful up and examine it. By the smell 
you may say, some onions ; looks as if some pota- 
toes were mixed ; surely, there is some meat, pep- 
per, salt, etc., etc. It is hash, and that is all you 
know about it, as each cook will have their own 
composition. Just what it is you cannot tell. Like- 
wise with education, being just the opposite from 
intellect. 

For me to say I know, simply because I have 
read or hear it, is a gross error. I do not know un- 
til I have received a conviction. Should I read 
the Bible one hundred times without a conviction, 
I understand not. 

Now, children, I wish you to use your intel- 
lects and think. For the present lay aside your 
education, and each one of you will get as much 
truth out of my remarks, as God gives you the 

Copyright, 1895. 



WHAT IS EDUCATION f 5 

power, to discern between truth and falsehood. 
Now mark you, this discernment is thought. 

We will now proceed with our illustration. 
Supposing we have a huge earthen pot set before 
us? Emma, dump the education of America into 
the pot. Helen, the education of England. Mary, 
the education of France. Laura, the education of 
Germany. Alice, the education of Spain. Grace, 
the education of Russia. Fannie, the education of 
China. Boyd, the education of Japan. Howard, the 
education of Rome. And take a stick and stir it 
well, and you will have one of the grandest pots of 
hash you ever beheld in all your lives. But mark 
you, children, it is all education. 

And the intellect of the world is trying to find 
out what this particular Pot of Hash is made of. 

I would have you understand that language is 
deceptive. The meaning of a word depends on 
time, place, circumstance and who is speaking it. 
Noah Webster, for instance, undertook to define the 
word God, when he could not conceive one thou- 
sandth part of the meaning. The real meaning to 
each individual lies in his individual, power of 
conception. 

Copyright, 1895. 



6 WHAT IS EDUCATION? 

Education has produced deception, not wisdom. 

There being a vast difference between an edu- 
cated and a wise man. The Divine command reads, 
"Get wisdom and with all thy getting get under- 
standing." Both wisdom and understanding is 
individual thought. 

Taken in a mechanical sense, education may 
produce profit. A boy is placed under a mechanic 
to learn a trade. What does he do ? He will imi- 
tate the man to the best of his abilitv, but mark 
you, it is imitation or being educated. 

Do you wonder that men and women become 
weary of life, having been deceived into giving 
away to such a great extent, the God-given power 
of thought? It is not wisdom, to accept that which 
you cannot conceive. A thought beyond its con- 
ception is as dangerous to a child as a knife. 

You will observe, that which a man or child is 
educated to, they simply repeat from memory, it is 
not individual thought. 

When Daniel Webster was asked the question 
of what he considered the greatest thought which 
ever entered his mind, after reflecting, his reply 
was, my individual responsibility towards God. 

Copyright, 1895. 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? 7 

Noble reply, but mark you, with that individual 
responsibility, comes of necessity, the individual 
thought. 

Education has a tendency to make parrots of 
children, which, if not watched closely, depriyes 
them of their true individuality, and they lose the 
real force of their own character. 

A parrot will utter, Polly wants a cracker, be- 
cause it has been told to. I will say two .and two 
make four, because I have been told to say two 
and two make four. I simply repeat, that which 
I have been told ; likewise all education is simply 
memory, there is no actual thought about it. 

I think it could be said with truth, vanity, 
thy name is education, not woman. 

It is possible to be a highly educated fool. 

You may hear persons speak of great men, but 
you will find as you go through life there is no 
such thing. The Apostle Peter made that mistake 
and thought he was, but was severely corrected by 
Jesus. A man's greatness can only be gauged by 
his sense of justice — Honesty being symbolmatical 
of justice — and it is written, " An honest man is 
the noblest work of God." 

Copyright, 1895. 



8 WHAT IS EDUCATION? 

Education, taken in a broad sense, is one of the 

greatest curses on this earth, and causes the im- 
mense strife amongst men. 

I could illustrate by taking the legal, financial, 
business ; or political questions of the day. But for 
illustration suppose we take the teachings of Christ, 
the true basis of all intelligent thought, as admit- 
ted by the finest intellects on earth. 

For ^instance, follow the education of man in 
all ages, and you will find it has a tendency to de- 
ceive the intellect of man. 

Education simply produces impressions on the 
memory, but will guide your lives if not checked 
by individual thought. 

It is this individual thought which constitutes 
the greatest secret in life, and is the direct cause of 
the difference in the millions of people you meet, 
and should be the principal consideration before 
marriage. 

Before you really know the truth of a thought 
vou must receive a conviction. As in the case of 
the Apostle Paul's conversion (it being universally 
admitted he was highly educated), on receiving 
a conviction from God, he threw his education 

Copyright, 1895. 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? 9 

away, saying, Brethren, I am determined to know 
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him 
crucified. This was the grandest act of Paul's life, 
produced by that individual thought, which makes 
the man. 

You will perceive, the thoughts were given 
him, not acquired. 

To one is given ten talents, to another five, to 
another one. The increase of these talents is 
obtained by prayer alone, by asking of God, not 
man. 

No person can study that which he cannot 
conceive ; the thought must be received — as a gift 
— and cannot be acquired. 

Many a noble youth has had his life blighted 
through parents not keeping to the teachings of 
Jesus. 

Observe their folly. 

They will that their son should become a 
Priest or Minister ; this may be a sincere desire of 
their heart, they place their child under the tuition 
of man by sending him to college. Is it common 
sense, that a boy should be sent to a man to learn 
divine truth, when he whom they profess and desire 

Copyright, 1895. 



10 WHAT IS EDUCATION? 

to follow, has left implicit instructions concern- 
ing it. 

The Bible reads, he that lacketh wisdom let 
him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, 
and upbraideth not, and it shall be given unto him. 
Observe this promise is made to all, an individual 
promise, " but you must ask of God." 

His first step toward his desired end, is a direct 
transgression of the divine command. He seeks to 
obtain from man that which he can receive from 
God alone. Who is to blame, the youth or parent, or 
those who have deceived the intellect of both 
through their education, ending in a ruined intellect 
or lost soul? 

When Jesus intended men to preach His Gos- 
pel, did He send them to college to be taught of 
man ? No ; they were to learn of Him. His com- 
mand to Peter and James was, " Follow thou Me ;" 
the same command is given to all mankind. He did 
not say, learn of men, for it was the education of 
this world which He came to overthrow. 

There is no just cause for any change. The 
great Instructor does not change, nor His dealings 
with the intellect of man. 

Copyright, 1895. 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? 11 

Let us consider some of the ideas set forth by 
the education of Priests and Ministers, and com- 
pare them with the Word of God. They will de- 
liberately tell you that they belong to the Roman 
Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church, the Bap- 
tist Church, the Methodist Church, the Presbyter- 
ian Church, the Lutheran Church, etc. 

Neither of which was known in the days which 
Christ spent on earth, therefore are not of His teach- 
ing. At the same time, professing to be followers 
of Christ's teachings, and wishing to lead you in 
thought, " you will observe this is simply their edu- 
cation"— " lacking thought." 

We have a way to distinguish between all 
their various educations, professing to be of Christ's 
teachings by referring to the Bible itself, which dis- 
tinctly says, u He that speaketh in an unknown 
tongue, brand him as a liar." 

Therefore, in my speaking to you of His teach- 
ing, I am admonished against the use of flowery 
language or any poetical sentiments of my own, or, 
in fact, of any man's. 

I may be speaking to some boy, who, in God's 
providence, may be given the thought, and prove 

Copyright, 1895. 



12 WHAT IS EDUCATION? 

himself greater than Paul, as Christ, through His 
spiritual Church, is still selecting His disciples. 

No man can give you the thought which Jesus 
intends to convey to you personally, and which He 
has promised to give you, in answer to sincere 
prayer. 

No man can expound the teachings of Rome 
better than the Pope. No man can explain the 
teachings of Luther better than Luther himself. 
The same will apply to Calvin, and Knox, and 
all other writers. 

Therefore, the, reason is plain, and explains 
why we should go to the Bible for instructions in 
the teachings of Jesus. 

As no man can improve on His version. 

Neither has man a right to do so, as he is 
forbidden to add to, or take from it. 

The teachings of Jesus, show plainly beyond 
doubt, that His divine mission to this earth was to 
fulfill the will of His Father, and establish the 
Church— which He did— and let us thank God— He 
did it well. " This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased." 

There is not a line nor syllable in all His 

Copyright, 1895. 



WHAT IS EDUCATION? 13 

teachings, which ask man to help Him form the 
Church. He simply asks men to become members 
of the Church which He established. A spirit- 
ual church — a house not made by hands, eternal 
in the heavens, and which man cannot build. 

While the professed followers of Luther, Cal- 
vin and Knox were all trying to show to the intel- 
lect of man that Rome had no right to form a 
church. 

While Rome, in return, was trying to show r to 
them, that they had no right under divine law to 
form a church, their arguments against each other 
simply condemn themselves. 

Who can prove Rome was not in the right, as 
laid down in the teachings of Christ, in denying 
their right to form a church ? 

Who can take the teachings of Christ, and 
prove that the followers of Luther, Calvin and Knox 
were not in the right in denying the right of Rome 
to form a church ? 

You can see ^in each denying the right of the 
other to form a church, they all agree in denying 
the right of man to form one. 

The leaders of each denomination, have made 

Copyright, 1895. 



14 WHAT IS EDUCATION? 

a serious blunder in the sinful use of the word 
church. This is education. Had they followed the 
teachings of Jesus instead of the education of man, 
they would not have fallen into the pot of hash. 

The Church being a spiritual one, there is no 
plural to the word, which can be made by man. The 
followers of Luther, Calvin, Knox, nor Rome cannot 
build a church. 

It is not in the pow r er of man to do so, as the 
Church on earth is in one's own heart. 

You cannot go to the Church, the Church 
must come to you. And it is a direct sin to de- 
ceive the intellect of childhood. 

If you love God, you are a member of the 

Church. 

If you do not love God, you are not a 
member. 

No man nor money can make you a member, 
neither can any man excommunicate you. 

It is not in the power of man to do either. 

Would it not be well, for all the denominations 
to keep the Ten Commandments, and stop lying ? 

It is simply a matter of their education, as 
directed by man in the different channels. 

Copyright, 1895. 



WHAT IS EDUCATION ? 15 

If the members of the various denominations 
would halt and pray, they might receive a con- 
viction, instead of simply repeating what they have 
been told. 

And they would find happy results, and rapid 
progress would follow in intellectual thought. 

Why should parents deceive their children by 
speaking of the different denominations as 
Churches? 

This is belittling the true thought of the Church 
of Christ, in the child's intellect and comes under 
the term education. 

Also under the Divine law of " whosoever de- 
ceiveth the innocent, it would be better for him 
that a millstone was hanged about his neck, and 
he was drowned in the depth of the sea." 

Under all the trying vicissitudes of Our Sa- 
viour's life, when He sought comfort or consolation 
He went personally unto God and expressed His 
individual thought. The act is grand and yet so 
childlike, noble and so expressive, a lesson which 
should never be forgotten by man, woman, or 
child. 

And when death shall come to us, I trust we 

Copyright, 1895. 



16 WHAT IS EDUCATION? 

will understand, the grand and sublime meaning 
of those words, and acts of Jesus. 

And will appreciate, the immense value, of that 
individual thought, which will either draw us to — 
or cast us from — God. 



And now may the Love of God, which sur- 
passes all understanding, keep your minds arid 
hearts, in the knowledge of the truth, as it is in 
Christ Jesus. 



By Jacob B. Coates, Philadelphia. 



Oh, I love to talk with Jesus, for it smooths the 
rugged road ; 

And it seems to help me onward, when I faint be- 
neath my load ; 

When my heart is crushed with sorrow, and my 
eyes with tears are dim, 

There is naught can yield me comfort like a little 
talk with Him. 

Oft I tell him I am weary, and I fain would be at 

rest; 
That I'm daily, hourly longing to repose upon His 

breast ; 
And He answers me so kindly, in the tend'rest tones 

of love, 
Fam coming soon to take thee to my happy home 

above. 



Let us be firm in the right, as God gives us 
to see the right. 



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